Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Source/Format: freebie, iBooks ebook

More Detains: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher/Publication Date: August 1, 2009, Scholastic Press

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever...

I have to admit that I struggled with Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, and I really wanted to like it. There wasn’t anything particularly bad about it that immediately made me hate it. It’s just that it took me a week to read 138 pages, which was just way too long for such a small amount. For some reason I was bored despite the fact that I thought the writing was nice. Stiefvater’s style is definitely something worth noting, because it was easy to read and conveyed the story in a way that should have interested me. However, I don’t think I’m in the mood for a paranormal novel that involves werewolves, so maybe now wasn’t the right time to read Shiver. Another issue that might have something to do with why I’ve decided to put this book down had to do with the story and the main character. Grace…oh Grace **sigh** I felt like it was rushed, like there was no prior buildup to Grace and Sam’s relationship other than the fact that he was a werewolf that she saw around the outskirts of her yard. And with a relationship like that—based on so little—I just didn’t buy it when she suddenly decided to let him stay in her bedroom. So yeah, I’ve decided to put Shiver aside because I have to move on to other books. Maybe one day I’ll give it another try, but for now I’m done with it.

Nintendo Book Tag

I haven’t done one of these in a long time, so today I’m going to take part in the Nintendo Book Tag. This tag was created by Novels and Nonsense over on YouTube—you should really check out her channel, she has a lot of great videos. You can see the original tag video HERE

1. NES (Nintendo Entertainment System): A Classic you want to read

Just one? I don’t know, there are a lot of classics I want to read, but most recently I really want to pick up the novels for Jurassic Park and the complete Wizard of Oz series.

2. SNES (Super Nintendo): A Sequel you liked more than the 1st (can be a 2nd book in a series)

Wow, actually this is a difficult question for me. Usually it’s the opposite. Anyway, I have to go with Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep. Even though I loved the first one, the second one was just as good if not better.

3. Nintendo 64: A book that revolutionized the way you look at the world

It’s not one specific book that did it for me, but dozens of them that would take all day to list.

4. Gamecube: A popular book that did not go over so well with you

Oh boy, I can name a few of them—lots of them actually—but I’m just going to stick with one for today. And it’s going to be Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. It just wasn’t my kind of book.

5. Wii: A new favorite book

Finding Serendipity—it’s a middle grade novel that I read earlier this year—and I have to say that I absolutely loved it.

6. Nintendo Power: Favorite Graphic novel series or a series you want to start

I don’t read many graphic novels so for this one I’m going to go with one of my all-time favorite manga series: D. Gray-Man.

7. Super Mario: A Character that you'd love to squish like a Goomba

This is an easy one: Alcantara, a vampire from The Watchers series by Veronica Wolff. There are just so many reasons why I disliked him, mainly because of the things he did throughout the entire series. So he totally deserves to be squished like a Goomba.

8. Zelda: A newer fantasy that you consider to be a modern classic

I absolutely love Mistborn. The world building was fantastic and the overall story was entirely enjoyable.

9. Samas-Aran: Favorite Sci-fi novel or one you want to read

I would actually like to read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (it’s just not out yet) and These Broken Stars also by Amie Kaufman with Meagan Spooner.

10. Pokemon: Book editions that you want to collect

All of the Barnes and Noble classic editions.

11. Donkey Kong: A book with original characters

For this one I’m going to go with Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius. The characters in the novel had very unique interests and habits that I’ve rarely seen.

12. Nintendo Fandom: Favorite Nintendo game(s) or game you really want

Mario Kart—I would also like a reboot of Double Dash because that game was a whole lot of fun.

Don’t forget to check out Novels and Nonsense on YouTube. And because this is such a fun one, I tag anyone who wants to participate. Happy reading!

Musing Mondays (34) Space Exploration & Other Things That Have me Excited This Week

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My Musings for the Week...

(Ok, so this might be a little off topic, but I just have to say that it’s completely awesome that Serena Williams won Wimbledon 2015 (Women’s Singles). Man, what a year for women’s sports!)

Anyway, I’m just going to move on to something that’s actually related to books. Since reading Space Exploration for Dummies, I’ve been more interested in watching shows about…well, the universe. Thankfully I have multiple History channels to watch—even a science one—that actually plays episodes dealing with the universe on some days. So far, I’m enjoying How the Universe Works, and looking forward to the new season that starts on July 14th.

Also, if you haven’t checked out NASAs Instagram you totally should. So I’m just going to link to it now. CLICK HERE TO GET TO IT

So what do you think? Do the books you read sometimes influence what you want to watch?

The Friday 56 (30) A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

For my 56 this week, I selected a quote from a book I recently read. (A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle)

Synopsis from Goodreads...

When fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace Murry shouts out an ancient rune meant to ward off the dark in desperation, a radiant creature appears. It is Gaudior, unicorn and time traveler. Charles Wallace and Gaudior must travel into the past on the winds of time to try to find a Might-Have-Been - a moment in the past when the entire course of events leading to the present can be changed, and the future of Earth - this small, swiftly tilting planet - saved. A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the third book in Madeleine L'Engle's classic Time Quintet...

"Charles Wallace wrapped his arms about himself as though for warmth. "And you wonder that I'm frightened?" 

"Of course you're frightened. I'm frightened, too.""-- A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

What classic novel(s) have you read recently?

Movie Review: Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Title: Jupiter Ascending
Director(s): Andy & Lana Wachowskis
Produced by: Grant Hill, The Wachowskis 
Written By: The Wachowskis
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 6, 2015
Source: Rented from Redbox
Gifs & Movie Poster from the official Jupiter Ascending website (Check them out here)

Yes, I actually watched this movie from start to finish because I was curious to see what it was like. My initial thoughts—upon seeing the trailer—for Jupiter Ascending was that it was going to be a science fiction/fantasy film of epic proportions. But after watching the movie, I was more than a little disappointed by it.

Here’s the thing, Jupiter Ascending had a lot of potential to be great, but suffered from too many flaws.

Albeit, visually stunning, the movie fails in the story department. I felt like I was watching different, segmented scenes with transitions that couldn’t properly put them together. Thus, the entire movie felt like a video game with villains popping in and out—disappearing altogether once what they had to offer to the plot was over and done with. I would have liked to see more of a resolution, but instead, I was left feeling like I’d just sat through two hours of something that wasn’t complete—like it needed a sequel to further explore the world.

For one thing, this movie was incredibly long, and some of the scenes felt like they lasted forever, like they were fillers to take up some of the space. At several times I found myself a little bored by it. Now the detail put into the visual aspects were as I said above, nice—even stunning—especially the scenes directly involving space and the various planets featured in the movie—as well as the alien technology/Abrasax ships. And then there was Jupiter Jones (played by Mila Kunis), ugh, I felt like she just sort of had this I’m-kind-of-bored expression throughout the entire movie. And when she actually did something productive—being saved by Caine Wise (played by Channing Tatum) doesn’t count—that it seemed so out of character for her that it was almost entirely unbelievable. Her character could have been better if developed more. Caine Wise was a complete (not even borderline) dues ex machina. His presence was more than convenient, and he showed up whenever Jupiter seemed to be stuck, which happened way too often. Now the characters weren’t all bad and Diomika Tsing (played by Nikki Amuka-Bird) was probably my favorite character in the entire movie. She was the captain that oversaw the Aegis ship that was present in the movie—she was kind of awesome.

At the end of the day, Jupiter Ascending seemed like the kind of movie that would interest me, but the story itself basically destroyed my enjoyment of the film. If you want to see this movie I suggest renting it before buying it.